Mass Effect, The Veteran
by filipesramon
Summary: Meet Samuel Fletcher, a mercenary famous for his heroic acts, maybe insane, Who got in the middle of a mysterius plot, while also remembering the facts that made him and his partner so well known across the galaxy. I have more chapters that I am revising and will keep posting.
1. Mission: Support the assault team on Sh

**Mission: Support the assault team on Shanxi. Contractor: Unknown: Entry 1**

The year is 2181, I am Samuel Fletcher, 41 years old, N7.I am an independent mercenary.

My partner, Matias Tucker and I are in the stronghold we helped retake on the First Contact War, the enemies are advanced intelligence mechs, most probable Geth or Cerberus, I don't think the Blue Suns or Eclipse would go all the way to Shanxi to get control of abandoned ground station, doesn't make sense. Several others independent mercenaries and the Blood Pack were contracted to do a tactical assault against the mechs, but nothing have been told yet, and this is preoccupying me. I saw the size of their forces while scanning the planet in orbit, and a full-scale frontal attack will not be of much help, if this is the plan, I will ask for a higher payment.

We were waiting orders for 2 days, from a man named Makarov Strahovsky, seem to be Russian when he spoke to me, but he didn't have any strong accent. I was installing a variable zoom optics for my M-96 Mattock when someone knock the door of the tent:

"Hey Sam! Someone wants to meet you here, come out for a moment."That was Matt speaking.

"I am modding my weapon, can't this wait?"

"No, it is kind of urgent."

Then the "urgent figure" enter by the door, I turn my head and there is Makarov standing in front of the door:

"I have a special task for both of you."

"Is something wrong? - I stopped modifying my rifle unfinished."

"No, but came to my knowledge that here was 'The one who destroyed a station with a pistol", and I couldn't put your fame to shame."

"I say this all the time but I shot with a sniper rifle, they exaggerate the story."

"Nevertheless, I am putting you both to flank the stronghold." He really meant that.

"Where?"

"You will go by car left until a bridge shows up then head north to the station, inside you try to disable the turrets and kill many Geths as possible."

"So, they really are the geth." My theory was right.

"Yes but something is not quite the same. They are showing signs of individual self-recon, and are harder." He really shown preoccupation.

"Just us two?-That would be difficult."

"No. I am sending one of the best with you, Zaeed Massani."

"The Zaeed who downed a turian frigate?"

"Yes, I think that two legends have much to talk about with each other, and I think now you want to discuss tactics, I will rally the troops later if you want to come." He head out the door and someone approaches. I asked Matt quickly:

"Did you known of this surprise attack?"

He answer with guilt:

"No, I say that was best if he talked with us together."

Suddenly Zaeed enter the door saying.

"So here's the man who destroyed a station with an assault rifle, but I heard other versions." At least he was close.

"It was a sniper rifle."

"Tell me the whole story." I had to know something from him first.

"Tell me how you managed to flee from a stasis field right before crash." The way he managed to bring the ship down was believable.

"Tristana and I had a thing in the past, but I thought that I broke it off before it killed me. Instead of kissing Tristana, I asked her about Jace, but it appeared the payoff was now split fifty-fifty. With the job almost done, I thought I could live with that. Zaeed set the frigate on a crash course toImpera, relying on the turian garrison there to shoot the vessel down before it happens. Tristana unexpectedly blasted me with her biotic as she revealed herself to be under Vido's employ.I mused to myself having terrible taste in women, but I did have great luck. Impera's gravitational forces acted on the crashing ship, freeing him from Tristana's biotic grasp. I managed to stab my ex-girlfriend in a scuffle while the garrison was firing upon the ship. If nothing else went wrong, I thought I still might get out alive. Then a hole opened up on the hull, nearly sucking us both out until my arms found protrusions to grab. I took the opportunity to kick Tristana completely off the ship, luckily finding another object to grab before plummeting to the surface with her. Now tell me your story, the complete version."

"The complete version may take a while..."


	2. Memories: The one shot station, 2164:

**Memories: "The one shot station", 2164:**

"Sam, Sam Wake up! Sleepy bastard!" Matt voice yelling.

"Let me sleep until the assault." I had not sleep last night thinking in a way to get out of the station.

"They postponed the attack; more forces will be coming today."

"And how the hell everyone will get out of the place?" Was only getting worse.

"They are the Blue Suns; they don't care if some men are cannon fodder."

"This was supposed to be an infiltration job, and simple, how many are coming?"

"I don't know, but the blue suns will be distraction for an infiltration team set the armament and destroy the station."

"Wait, now they want to destroy it, the job was enter, free the slavers and maybe do some kills, not blow up a space station!" If this is the infiltration team had better not blow everyone, I expect to retire someday.

"Our payment will increase."

"Why?" Something was wrong with his expression.

"We are the infiltration team." He has to be joking.

"You sign us for the most dangerous part of the mission?"

"Wasn't my fault, they know you are N7 and an engineer."

"And his partner is N6 and bomb specialist."

"See, not my fault." It was the truth.

"Just the two of us?"

"Yes, but I think that's better." And really was better less people.

"All right, let me think something. I am open to suggestions." Wasn't going to be easy.

"Cloaking maybe?" Not bad.

"Yes, we can cover our approach."

"I will go see if someone have long periods cloaking devices for sell or something." Good idea.

"Meet me here if you find at least one."

"I will." He headed out the door.

Now, the plan was how to get in, because the way out was covered. Go with my ship, enter by airlock or the armory, normally it's where the shuttles are, and get out after set the munitions to implode, probably exiting by the enter point or hijacking a shuttle or fighter. A simple plan but efficient, and simplicity was required if a big contingency was about to enter a space station. FYI, the station was built to prevent the hard life on the colony. Luckily, they anticipated any attempt of attack, leaving it way off any city, and they had an Eezo core for maneuver. I anticipated that too and when I saw the specifications the plan was already "divide and conquer", with me going to the core, as engineer and Matt to the armory, as he was the bomb expert.

I was testing a new Sniper Rifle I purchased before going to the planet when Matias appear with a smile in his face:

"Hit a few at least?" In fact, the weapon is very precise.

"With this sniper I can hit a target farther than three thousand kilometers." I wasn't joking.

"This weapon is that good, because you aren't."

"Who saved your ass last job covering you with a sniper?"

"All right, you did, but they weren't this far, maybe two and a half, tops." He was a bit good with distances, but not enough for be the one with a sniper. He like close quarter combat, and uses mostly shotguns and hand cannons.

"Yes, but what you found?"

"I found one old cloaking working in the common equipment and bought other for a small fortune, but is okay, I can have that." This generosity was rare.

"You tested them both?" I had to be sure they are working.

"Yes, both can maintain a field for three hours before overheating." That should be enough.

"Let me see if I can upgrade them."

"Here, but I think someone already tamper with both."

I scanned both with my Omni-tool, but he was right, someone already bypassed the energy system to make the field last more time, and they did a good job because three hours was a good time, maybe they could even last more, but overheating, and three hours is enough to do the job, then I said:

"Maybe they cannot hold enough to last until the escape, but is sufficient to reach the armory and the core."

"Yes, and the escape we will have the teams covering our exits." Good, they could draw the attention out of us.

"When do we go?"

"Tonight, when it's most dark."

"Who told you?" A surprise attack was a good idea.

"The contractor, Benny P. Senior." Benny Price.

Night, 00:14. Fourteen minutes before we, the infiltration team, enter the station, the diversion entered at midnight, in the CIC they will signal the infiltration team where the forces of the station are more focused. By the time they are inside only 10% of the personnel is guarding the Armory, the Drive Cores and the Crew Quarters. Leaving room to maneuver through the station with small problems. Matias looked preoccupied:

"Are you nervous Matt?"

"Just the basic chill before an attack, but these cloaking devices are worrying me a little. Will they hold long enough?" I was thinking the same.

"They are modified already, if we go fast enough they can even cover our exits, and if we lock the doors, we can deactivate them for a while."

"Well, this might work."

Suddenly, my comm start to ring, and when I answer I hear a desperate voice calling for me:

"Someone in this channel, I am Benny Price Junior and I'm trapped in the captain cabin, there was a trap and my arm is broken, if someone is hearing this I will pay fifty Thousand credits to anyone who get me out."

I said, without thinking much time, a mistake, but I said even so:

"I am from the infiltration team, where is the cabin?"

"In the end of the Crew quarters, I locked the door but I don't know if there is anyone out."

"We need you Samuel, just explode the armory will not be enough to set the station to Adek."


	3. Memories: The Rescue

**Memories: The Rescue**

The way to the Captain's Cabin was through the Crew Quarters, surely is under guard. But the price to rescue Benny junior was not the same he asked, he was desperate and accepted the double for the job, that means I was going to have one hundred thousand credits, plus the extra for being the infiltration team, and that extra was one and fifty grand. That leave three hundred credits total, and since the extra was for the two of us, the payroll was high, very high indeed.

I had my Avenger ready, the "Shiny". It was named after I broke a door with it, and a woman from my N7 squad liked old movies, so she watched a movie with the name and in it, some guy named Jack Nicholson, break a door with an axe, so that's where the idea came. But I like it.

The way to the Crew Quarter was clean, but I hadn't reached it yet, and I was alone. If Matt didn't rigged the Armory and the Eezo Core before I rescued Benny, we were to be counting on only one way to destroy the station .Knowing Matt, he was going to the armory to blow the station to hell, also, knowing him better, he wasn't going to put a remote detonator, instead he was going to time it, leaving small time to someone stop the count. I normally agree with the tactic, but with a rescue going on we couldn't afford a time limit, and the diversion team have to evacuate first, so probably, Matt can see the situation, if not, then we might have trouble.

I was close to the quarters when some tem people passed running; I stayed hidden in the corner. This was a good sign, because meant the diversion team was causing damage, they weren't just cannon fodder after all. With this situation, the quarters might be unguarded, and when I saw the cabin witch Benny mentioned and there was two guys only.

I was cloaked but if I shoot, my cloaking was going to disable, so I used Incinerate by the door, the blast was going to be enough to kill both. I used the power, but one remained burning. With my cloak inactive I shot the guy in the chest a few times, he got down.

The door really was locked, if Benny was inside he had to be alive. I bypassed the door connecting some wires, when it opened, revealing more blood than I expected. He was in the bed, and his arm wasn't looking good:

"Do you applied Medi-Gel?" His arm was twisted and he was holding something.

"Yes, but was bleeding very much."

"What is that on your hand?"

"I rigged the Eezo Core, when I press this button it will increase the mass of the station." Finally good News.

"Wait a minute I have to tell my partner to go back, the Eezo core will be enough to bring it down."

I called Matt when I heard gunshots:

"I will not be able to go to the Eezo core, I already set the armory to blow, and it will cause heavy damage, and surely will open a hole in the armor."

"How you did it?" This was taking a bad outcome.

"One and a half hour."

"And how much we have left?"

"One or less, but we can shoot it from the space, I will leave a hatch open."


	4. Memories: The Escape

**Memories: The Escape**

It was about thirty minutes left to the station explode, when someone called me:

"Is this the infiltration team?" Looked a Turian saying.

"Yes, which side are you?"

"I am the captain of the assault team, we are retreating, most of my men are dead and only the Krogan and I are left, we have time?"

"You have about thirty minutes, I am with Benny Price's son, he is injured, but I am at the hatch, your priority are escape with your lives, I cannot leave Junior here, his arm is a no down."

"Aye aye, we will be out as faster than we can, but I can't leave my men to protect your other guy."

"I have a small ship, I can attain to our own safety, don't do any damage; I don't want no one else dying in this operation."

"Aye aye, I am out." He turned it off, but before I heard him yelling orders.

"Benny, put your mask."

I put my breather on, and when Junior put his own I destroyed the hatch. My ship was far away and the only way to go was by jumping, so I tossed Benny out the airlock and told by comm:

"Can you pilot?" I had to check.

"Not with one arm." There is no other way, Matt was on his own and didn't have much time.

"Dammit." There was little time left.

Therefore, the only way to go was jumping, and Benny had reached the door, I opened it with my Omni-tool, and head off the station for the final time. It was the strongest jump I could do, and don't took so long to me reach the ship. When I entered, the first thing I did was turn it on, and then I called Matt:

"Matt where are you?" He needed to be at least near a hatch.

"I am cloaked but I can't find a way out."

"Where the hell are you I can open a way out."

"In the Core's locations, I will send my coordinates."

He was only down a bit when I shot and Matt called speaking in a desperate tone:

"What the hell, luckily I was with my breather, you could have killed me."

"The station will explode come now."

"I am close, just a little closer...- He was calming but the desperation was there yet."

I picked him up and began getting far away; the armory did had a hatch open when the captain called me again:

"Infiltration team, we are out and away from the station, are the three of you safe?"

"Yes, we managed to get out in time. - But something was not right."

"Why the station isn't going down."

"The explosives, someone must have disarmed them." Matt said to through the channel.

"I will shoot them."

Someone said something but this time I was already aiming my sniper, a Black Widow, never used in real combat when I found the open hatch. I didn't had concentration mod, so I had to calculate my shot, the open I did was making the station go down. When I found the right spot, I didn't even think about it, just fired.

The explosion was massive, bigger than expected, I almost fell in space when I heard someone, I couldn't hear, but the lips of Benny was forming one word repeatedly:

"Eezo, Eezo, Eezo..."

So suddenly, I remembered Benny had rigged the Eezo core to increase the station mass over time. I looked the station and it wasn't going down, was slow, more than before but not enough, so I tried to remember where the trigger was, when I remembered:

"Benny, use the trigger." The station had to blow.

He had it in his broken arm, I took it from him and pressed it, there was no opened hole, but the station began to accelerate. It worked, the station was going down and the explosion wasn't enough, like Matt said, but after I found Benny, this wasn't important, he did my job after trying to impress his father killing the captain, or the other way around, impressing him destroying the station. However, like I said, now I had to get out and find a father for an idiot, but I wasn't going to leave him yet, we were heading to Omega and when he recovered, he told me that he owned his life to me and stuck with us for after a year.

Later he told me why he tried his stunt, and he really was trying to impress his father killing the captain, but just that, he didn't told me about his father.

He stuck with us until I started dating a Quarian in her Pilgrimage for a long time, until we stole a Carrier together, but that is a history for another time, and don't ask, she survived...


	5. Present Days: The Approach

**Present Days: The Approach**

Me, Matt and Zaeed were in older model of the Mako when we saw a bridge. I said to both of them:

"I will see if the bridge can hold the Mako." And headed outside.

"Sam, we are close, we can't risk it." Matt told me.

But when I hear it, I was already outside. The bridge was long, but it had all the pillars in place and not even one was broken. Just that was going to be enough to hold the Mako, but, as the military engineers built it, I could trust the Mako would pass with no problems.

I entered the six-wheel vehicle and started to go, slowly. But something wasn't good, my instincts was telling me that they was smart enough to prevent a surprise attack.

When we reach the middle of the bridge, I heard at least two fighters outside and we all heard a missile coming. The tremor was short, the Mako begin to fall and everyone was holding at something. The fall was fast and I asked:

"Are the both of you hurt?" Zaeed answer quickly:

"No, but we have to go on foot now." He was right; there was only one way to reach the base now, when Matt said:

"Sam still have his cloak device, if he goes on cloaked he can use an EMP on the station."

"And where he will find an EMP small enough to disable all the mechs?" Zaeed questioned him, and I answered:

"If I go quiet, I can find something to use there, and if I can't find nothing I will have opened a path to Matt destroy the station with a bomb."

"Good plan, I like the way you think rookie." Zaeed replied laughing.

"I may not be too old, but I am still an engineer and a N7, so we can do it together." Zaeed was still laughing when Matt said.

"Sam did more than destroy the station, he killed a platoon of batarians when his rifle jammed, fought two krogans alone and killed one with a knife, and survived after find a male Asari of Cerberus." Zaeed asked surprised:

"But all the Asari are females." I responded:

"He was genetic engineered by Cerberus, but was human first, but now we have to get out of here."

I picked up my Mattock and opened the door, aiming for anything that was shooting, but until now we were alone, so they must to be coming, we still had time.

We were all walking after climbing the canyon when we heard shooting, someone was already doing our tactic, and in the instant, we saw them cloaked and found some cover.

I was aiming the same Black Widow I used to destroy the station when I aim to see who was shooting, when I saw the mechs fighting each other, something was very wrong. The geth

Were more intelligent fighting together, in consensus, why they were shooting each other?

The only explanation I could think, the geth fighting with the support team wasn't the same of the ones fighting each other, they had advanced AI, maybe they could think for themselves, and something made them fight each other, I had to find the leader of the opposition when Matt found me:

"They are fighting each other." Zaeed said:

"Yes, they don't agree fighting for the base." I responded, uncloaked:

"No, there is something else in there, something they want to protect, or destroy, I have to go inside and find out what it is, you can go too but I will go cloaked, sol et they fight each other, and find anything that isn't geth technology."

"Aye aye, Sam, Zaeed can come with me." Matt took it as an order.

"I will go with your partner, but I can't guarantee I will not destroy some of these geth."

"You both decide that, I am going now, Matt don't destroy the station yet, let me find something first."

He hadn't have time to answer when I walked around the geth fighting each other, cloaked and from cover to cover, when I found an opened door.

I entered the base but there were more geth fighting, when I saw something that made a chill in my spine. It was a giant mech shooting and destroying geth by his own hand, the left one had a blade, instead of a hand, and it could shoot lightning strikes, and it had two canons on its shoulder.

I didn't never saw a geth like it and it had wings, but wasn't mechanic was organic, and I realized, the whole metal parts had bits of organic pieces between the armor. It surely wasn't the geth, was someone else, and definitely I found what was leading the others.

He was looking at me, even cloaked when I heard an explosion...


	6. Mission Support: The one goal

**Mission Support: The one goal**

I was alive, going to the armory, the explosion hadn't killed me, in fact, what really happened is that a krogan fired a missile launcher in the roof, trying to slow down the strange synthetic I saw. It worked, giving time to me for escape, while the machine was occupied with the krogan, he could be violent, but against that thing was not going to be enough and I had to be fast, since it will come to me next.

The path was crowded with geth, sometimes I had no choice but to fire my assault rifle, and invisible they were an easy target. I lost my count at fifteen kills, before I found a geth launcher, beginning to destroy always two at the same time, since we were fighting in close quarters and the geth rarely leave their cover while in groups, since them share process power, leaving them more intelligent.

The more close I was to the armory, more geth destroyers and primes I had to kill. When they died, at least I could pick the fallen launchers, making it easy to kill the next one, in theory. I was overloading shields and barriers and using Incinerate in armors, leaving them vulnerable. Matt had his grenades, very effective but limited. With Zaeed, they might have better chances than I might.

I saw the door of the armory when something hit me in my legs; I was being choked in my knees. My cloak disabled, so as the enemy's, a geth Hunter had found me. He was strong, and I getting out of air when I dropped my Mattock and picked my M-358 Talon, a heavy pistol, essentially a hand shotgun with four shots per thermal clip. One shot close as I am to the Hunter was fatal and I aimed in his head.

Didn't have to wait for the geth to die, after the shot I could breathe again. Took a while to recover and a geth Prime appeared out the door, I cloaked again and got closer. I overloaded his armor, and while my tech powers was cooling, I got round him and shot in his back. I shot everything I had, leaving my pistol empty, I was too close to use flare so I rolled back and Incinerate him. He was down, I looked around the armory, and there was no geth. However, I caught something when looking, and I looked again.

I was getting close to someone I knew, Makarov, he wasn't the contractor, but he probably don't knew who was, and I had to know who ordered this mission after the end, but while I was in the middle of the battle, I had to knew why we were here, and this, Makarov surely had an idea:

"Strahovsky, you were shot." There wasn't any blood, but he could be elsewhere.

"Look who found me Samuel. Looks like you survived that crazy creature on the side door." He knew I had encountered the synthetic.

"How do you know that?"

"We were here looking for a weapon from an unknown technology, but we found only the geth fighting each other and that organic mech, nothing else." What he was looking for.

"That synthetic it's not created by the geth, maybe your contractor knew what you were looking for, and sent you to a trap, to see witch abilities it had, or if he could be destroyed."

"Heh, you are a smart man Samuel, and you are alive, the question is, will you need me alive or dead?" He was also smart.

"I need you alive to find the contractor, but I won't carry you, I just need your communications log, so you are expendable."

"I wasn't shot, someone betrayed me, I think that was that crazy krogan fighting the mech, and he tried to kill me but leave me unconscious here. To die by the geth, I just got lucky."

"You are going with me than, to my ship. Let me talk to Matt first, so he can go find it."

I called Matt, but couldn't hear him right:

"Sam, where are you?" The sound was making me deaf.

"I found Makarov, he is alive."

"We aren't even inside, that synthetic can't be destroyed, it is impossible." Bad way for a exiting.

"Use smoke grenades and retreat to my ship, use the VI to go to the last location we leave it, it is close to your location."

"Can't you get out with Makarov?"

"Not with the creature blocking my way."

"All right where you will be?" It was good that he was alive.

"I will go to the roof and wait you."

"Good plan I am retreating with Zaeed."

I could still hear him yelling to Zaeed to go back to the ship, when I told the same to Makarov in my location.

I was going to the roof, but without any Hunter finding me again, but I knew there was going to be snipers in the roof, and a cannon. Close to the stairs Matt was calling me:

"Sam, we need help, there is a geth Colossus here, he is fighting some Armatures like the ones we found early, we can't get past them, they are too much." I had to do something.

"Get away from them I will fire the cannon."

"What, what about the ship?" We had to risk it.

"There is no other way; I am already in the roof." I didn't stop while talking.

"Aim in both sides." I will.

"Makarov, cover me while I aim it." He don't say nothing, just aimed his assault rifle.

I was at the console, the geth wasn't using it, and so I didn't have to override it. I just input some old launching codes. The tricky part was aim it using my ship as reference, so took the aim off my ship and fired south to it. One shot, two, three, Matt wasn't calling me so I was missing, or shooting the wrong target when I called him myself:

"Matias are you alive?" He answered enthusiastic:

"Yes, you destroyed the Armatures but the Colossus is reappearing itself."

"Send me his coordinates now."

I received the location of the Colossus and aimed right on top of him. I shot one time to destroy the Shields, one more for the armor and other to be sure it died, this time, Matt called me:

"It worked! They are all dead." When I heard a scream in the roof.

Makarov was down, a geth Sniper was aiming at me, I had only time to find some cover. It scratched my armor, but my shields protected me, I got out of cover and fired with my semi-automatic Black Widow, two times. The geth was down and I called Matt again:

"Matt, are you in the ship?"

"Yes, I'm on the landing on the roof." I wasn't seeing anything.

Then my ship uncloaked and I saw him in the other way of the cannon. I forgot that I used the cloaking device Matt found years ago to make the ship invisible for a time. But, it was like a big shuttle, and I modified the cloaking device to use the energy of the ship. Even so the time before overheat was only fifteen minutes, but was enough to land safely in a war zone.

I checked if Makarov was alive and he was. I applied Medi-Gel and he wake up, so he came walking on his own and I was covering him. When I was inside and Begin flying I saw the strange synthetic again, this time fighting the assault team, but if Matt and Zaeed wasn't able to kill him, what chances they had?


	7. Support the Assault team on Sha

**Mission: Support the Assault team on Shanxi: Debriefing**

Therefore, my mission was, in a way, a success. We found what we were looking for, but it was alive. So I had in my ship Zaeed Massani and the only person that had a connection to the contractor, Makarov Strahovsky.

I knew my next step; I was going to the Citadel for three objectives. First I had to get Zaeed to land, and turns out he was going to the Citadel too, I was his ride. Second, I had to find Makarov's contractor, and mine too, and why he lead us to a trap. Third reason, I had to find out everything I knew about who, or what created that creature we saw, and there is was only one person in the galaxy that could have information on it.

An information broker, with contacts in every organization of the galaxy, it was a legend around Earth, the other alien planets, colonies, Omega and the Citadel. But I knew he existed, I bought information on one of his agents in Omega once, that treacherous meteor.

However, this time I was going to the Citadel, and I knew who could help me, Fist, a human, one of the agents of the Shadow Broker. Fist was a criminal, owner of Chora's Den in the Citadel. The only thing that was making my wallet hollow was the price.

I had to know. And I was willing to pay for it.


	8. Citadel: A story don't cost anything, or

**Citadel: A story don't cost anything, or does it?**

And there I was, standing in front of a door, waiting for a man, dangerous, but I needed what he provided. Information is valuable in the galaxy and I desperatly want it. The lead we obtained from Makarov got us to a wall, we didn't found the contractor with just his communication, so Makarov himself was going after the contractor. In the meantime, I had to find who created the synthetic we saw, and the shadow Broker was the only way.

The door opened so I get inside and ask the man in the middle of what appeared to be bodyguards:

"Are you the agent, Fist?" He was human.

"I'm Fist, why are you here?" He was playing with me, to see what I knew.

"You know why I am here, I need information, one that a broker would know."

"It's not in my place to know everything the Shadow Broker know. " He was cold, but he had to know something.

"So am I wasting my time here?"

"That depends, what information you need?" I had to be careful to not reveal everything.

"I want to know why the geth are out of the Perseus Veil."

"So, you were on the attack on Shanxi." He know about the mission, probably know who I am too, he really was playing with me.

"I was, but I'm alive, and need to know why they attacked."

"Like I said, i don't know everything, but I can point you to the right direction, another agent know what you need." It was a bad place to be, standing betweentwo Shadow Broker agents, but I had no choice.

"And you will just tell me who the agente is?"

"I could do that, but nothing comes for free, seventy Thousand credits." He was holding a OSD in his left hand.

I transferred the credits to him and he began to walk in my direction. He gave me the OSD and said:

"In that is everything you need to know about the other agent, she works for a company in Noveria, they are researching geth technology. That OSD have all the plants of their researching base, what you do with it is not my problem, now, if you excuse me, there are other people in need of my services."

I was outside, the meeting was not what I expected, buta t least now I had a place to search for clues about the geth. I just needed to find Matias in Flux, he like to play Quasar in there and drink, wasn't a bad place to drink.

I was standing inside Flux when I saw Matt drinking at the bar. I walk to the bar and sat at the bench in his right side, there was a kid on the left side drinking too, he was young and was chatting with the asari bartender, probably hitting on her. I asked a drink to the other bartender and said to Matt:

"I got the information we need, we are going to infiltrate a base on Noveria."

"What, look, we are not industrial spies now, are we?" He wasn't joking, it was a real question.

"They are doing research on the geth, there is a informant in the labs, working for the Shadow Broker." I was lowering my voice to the max when my drink came. I drank all of it.

"Bring me one more please." Matt began laughing at my side and talked loud enough for the boy to hear:

"That remember me the time you kill that krogan after drinking here, do you remember?" He was drunk already.

"Of course I remember, it was the time I met Faesa for the first time."

The boy on the left side looked surprised, aof course he heard that. Ando f course he was going to ask how I killed a krogan:

"You killed a krogan here, how?" i didn't even had time to respond, Matias was doing it.

"He killed one krogan with a knife and scared the other, all for saving a quarian he never met before." He was more drunk I that I could handle, he was going to tell the kid about Faesa.

"A quarian, do they ever leave their fleet." The boy didn't know about the Pilgrimage, in fact few people outside the quarian flotilla knew. Matt said again:

"Yes, and he dated her for four years, almost married her." This time I intervened:

"It was five years and you know why I got that apartment." Matt said:

"Yes, to live with her right before we stoled that ship for her." He was saying too much. The kid asked again:

"You stoled a ship for her?" I responded this time.

"Look kid, it was a long time ago, now I can't tell you. We, need to leave the Citadel, right Matias?" He answered begging:

"Oh common, tell the kid at least how you meet her, and killed the krogan, it won't hurt you." I didnt had the time, I needed to head to Noveria fast.

"We need to leave Matt." He begged once more.

"Do it as a favor to me, for the kid." I had to tell the story, he wasn't going to leave until I do.

"You owe me one Matt, allright kid, pay attention and you might learn something."


	9. Memories: The two krogans, the mercenari

**Memories: The two krogans, the mercenaries and a quarian, 2166**

"Sam, now that Benny is working with his father again, we are alone again?" It was too soon for the drink start to make Matt sad, but he couldn't handle much liquor.

"What you mean alone, we are fine doing missions on our own."

"But we can use the help of a third partner, you saw how Benny make the job of killing people a lot easy." He was right, having someone else is helpful.

"A three people squad is good, but Benny isn't here anymore, his father called and he went."

"Yeah, I just wonder if we will ever find other person who own his life to us." He mention that as if someone owning his life to us wasn't important.

"We work mostly without drawing attention, maybe it's better if there are just us two."

"Maybe, I will just forget about Benny then." I could understand his feelings, having a third partner to rely while on battle was fine.

I don't even had time to talk again, when I heard a loud voice right behind me. I understood part of it. Aparently, there were two krogan looking for a quarian, and they have found her, I turned my head to see and the first krogan was using a white armor, brand new, the other had a black armor, used, with a lot of bullet marks. The one with the black armor was holding the quarian, she said:

"Let me go!" The krogan with the white armor said to his partner:

"Are you sure that's her Grovak?" Grovak answered angry:

"Yes, that's her Paxx, can't you see?"

"Not with this suit of hers, they all look the same to me." Grovak was getting angrier.

"I can tell the difference, you are too young. Can't even tell the difference between a pyjak and a varren in a hunt." Grovak was from Tuchanka, one of the few places you can find a varren and a pyjak for hunting.

"I never killed a wild varren, just the ones on the pit." Paxx looked really young, if you compare him with if you can distinguish age in krogans.

"Forget it, let just take the quarian outside and kill her." They were mercenaries, and they were going to kill her if I didn't do something.

I drank the rest of my whisky and I was feeling very corageous. Obviously, the drinks I had was making me feel that way, and, seeing how these krogan was discussing killing pyjaks, I thought everything was going to be resolved if I just talk to them, how I was wrong:

"Hey you two, let the quarian go." It sounded like a threat. Grovak just said to me:

"You better sit down human, this is our business." He was serious. It was better for me to go away, but I wasn't in total control of my mouth, so I said without thinking:

"I think it's better for you to leave her alone, she did nothing to you." This time who responded was her:

"You better go now, I don't want anyone dead because of me." Grovak was losting his patience, and said loud:

"You shut up, and you human if you say something I will hurt you bad." Paxx was quiet, but this time was he that break the silence.

"Grovak, let it go, we will kill her outside." Against my better judgement I answered.

"No one will kill her." It was time to finish my heroic line before everything went from bad to worse.

Grovak let the quarian go, I just had time to see her running to the door when I suddenly felt two hands grabbing my chest. I was being held over Grovak's head when he tossed me out the air. I fell behing the bar, breaking bottles of every liquor of the galaxy. I hitted my head and was hearing a buzz. I was still dizzy when I got up and saw Grovak taking me again and throwing me in the open floor. This time the adrenaline sober me up, and I turned around in time to see Paxx coming to my direction.

I was ready to fight and kicked Paxx in the stomach, or what the krogan had for a stomach. While Paxx was holding his belly I start to throw punches in his face. I heard somemone screaming and turned around again, Grovak hitted my face, than my stomach, but when he was going to hit my face again I dodged. The mad krogan was trying to hit me but I continued escaping his punches. I was getting close to thewall, if I got there, Grovak was going to hit me until I die, so I had to react.

Grovak was trying to hit me, so every time he missed was my turn to attack. It was dodge and hit for me, but the krogan don't quit a fight. I was getting tired, while he wasn't showing signs of being hurt. I caught something with my peripheral vision, movement from Paxx. I heard something and Grovak stopped punching me, he turned around and yelled:

"No, he is my pray."

Paxx was holding a pistol but hesited to shoot. So I took my old Predator from the time on the Alliance and aimed at Paxx. I was still dizzy, because the bullet hitted Paxx's right arm, making him drop his pistol. Suddenly Grovak hitted my pistol with a Claymore, leaving me unarmed. But he didn't shot me, he was going to kill me with the knife attached in his shotgun. Luckly I realized that and jumped to the side when he tried to attack me. The knife got stuck in the wall so I kicked the shotgun, breaking the knife and throwing the shotgun away.

Grovak was faster than me, he was choking me. I kicked between his legs, but he didn't let me go, instead he just throw me to the ground and was holding my neck with both hands. I was dying, but I saw a knife in my left side, the knife from Grovak's shotgun. I took the knife and stucked it in the frontal plate of his head. I ripped the plate and stuck the knife in his brain.

He was dead, so I got his body to the side and get up. Paxx was holding his right arm, he was bleeding and walking away from me. I took my Predator from the ground and Paxx said:

"You killed him, how you did it?"

"If you really want to know I can do it again." He began walking away again.

"No, I don`t want to die today." This time he was running to the door.

So I remembered, Matt wasn't in the bar and the quarian was somewhere outside. So I headead out and heard shooting in a alley nearby. This time I was holding the "Shiny" and was going near the sound of the firefight.

I saw what appeared to be Eclipse mercenaries shooting in the end of the alley. I was behind them, so I shot the closest person a few times. One of the mercs turned around, so I overloaded his shields and shot him too. I found some cover and the Eclipse mercs began to shoot me. I heard a explosion noise, sounded like a Cryo tech power, so I got out from the cover and saw three frozen mercenaries. I used Incinerate and since they were frozen, the energy from the two powers created a explosion, destroying the other two mercs.

I went where Matias and the quarian was, still holding my rifle. But it looked that they weren't hurt, so I holstered my weapon and asked Matt:

"Where were you while I was fighting two krogans alone?" This time I got angry.

"Sorry Sam, I was following Faesa." So that was her name.

"Who are you and why the Eclipse is after you?" She answered, looking guilty.

"I am Feasa'Saar nar Jisal, I tried to steal technology from a salarian named Asirn Caess, but he contracted the Eclipse to kill me, he will do it again if we don't do something." I asked her.

"We? We just saved your life." Matt said right when I ended my phrase:

"Samuel, the guy have money. Faesa said that if we kill him we can have what he have in his hideout." It was tempting but not enough.

"Maybe, but what is your stake in this Faesa?"

"I just want his research on immune system." If the guy was salarian why he was studying the quarians?

"Is he a scientist?" Faesa hesited, but responded.

"He killed a lot of people trying to boost the immune system." That was enough to make me go after him.

"So, where is he?" I couldn't let him kill people, even if they are subjects of a research.

"He is running a lab on Omega."


	10. Memories: Unsettling methods

**Memories: Unsettling methods**

The preparations for the attack on Omega took three days. Faesa came with the idea to mask our approach. The solution: she and I incorporated Matt's cloaking device to my ship. I was surprised with her knowledge of mechanics. While I installed the device on the ship, she was capable of using the max capacity of the device. So, my ship could now be invisible for fifteen minutes. We were getting close to Omega, when Matt asked:

"So, remember me why we have to be cloaked to get there." Faesa answered first.

"Because if he see anyone coming he will run away." Matt wasn't satisfied.

"But we can infiltrate by ground." This time I answered.

"No, his thugs will see us. If we enter Omega close to his lab there will be no time for them to react."

"But the cloaking will hold only for fifteen minutes." Sufficient time for the entrance only.

"Sorry Matt, but you will have to be piloting the whole time." Sure he wouldn't like it.

"So today I am only the pilot." It was no good enter without Matt, but there was no other way.

"We will be quick. There will be just Asirn inside." Faesa looked to me and said:

"Asirn and his subjects."

I activated the cloaking close to the entrance. We were going to enter Omega in the lower levels and enter Asirn's lab the same way Faesa did before. The lab had three levels, a basement, and two floors. It was small, and unguarded. Asirn didn't want anyone seeing his work, afraid someone would stole it.

I had my breather on when the door of my ship opened. We entered through an airlock, used to toss the garbage out of that part of Omega. The lab had windows to see out of the station, but no one was going to see my ship now. I was inside with Faesa, Matt had already been gone. I closed the airlock, turned on the lantern of my rifle and was going to take off my brother when Faesa said:

"It's better if you don't do this now, look around." I followed her advice. We were standing in a open grave.

"Are they the failed test subjects?" There were bodies all around.

"Yes, he try to improve the immune system with a genetic treatment, then infect them with diseases to see if it worked." I was walking when I noticed, various species was there.

"Why is he experimenting with every species?"

"I don't know, but the answer is inside his lab."

We entered the basement, it had very little ilumination, but the lanters wasn't necessary anymore. I could see cages, inside them were turians, humans, batarians, salarians and asari. All asking for help. I headed to the console and opened all doors. Faesa turned to me and said:

"I hope you know what you are doing." I didn't know.

"I had to do this, Asirn was going to let them die."

"It was the right thing to do, now we have to find him before he finds out what happened. – We had little time."

"Let's go to the elevator."

The elevator opened in the third floor, we had our weapons at hand. It was Asirn's private lab. When Faesa walked outside the elevator I saw a hand grabbing her. I couldn't react on time, Asirn was holding Faesa, with a pistol in her head. The only thing I could now was aim in the right place and don't kill Faesa. Asirn was the first to talk:

"You again, I knew I had to kill you myself." He was going to kill her. I had to gain time.

"Stop, anyone else have to die." Not a good answer, but Asirn did not killed her.

"You brought help this time, get away or she die." I had to be careful.

"Look, i'm walking away, just let her go." I said the wrong thing.

"You both are trying to steal my research, I will kill you two." I couldn't do nothing, so Faesa said:

"I am just trying to help my people." Asirn was now laughing:

"Do you think I am trying to help someone?"

He was going to shoot Faesa, but she realized it and moved to the side. It was my chance to kill Asirn and I took it. He was down and Faesa was going directly to a console. I got close to Asirn, he really was dead. Faesa was at the console when I got there, she said to me:

"I was wrong, he is not trying to boost anyone's immune system, it only happened because he was trying to create a biological weapon." It took a while for me to understand.

"This was a sympton of the disease he was creating?"

"In the first stage, the virus infect cells responsible for the defense system, making them multiply. But after that, the disease can really act. The cells responsible for the imune system attack the person infected. It infect and kill the brain and heart's cells. It is a auto-immune vírus." This was bad for anyone infected.

"So the ones we let go..."

"We can't save them, there is no cure." They were going to die.

"In the end I saved no one. The mission was for nothing."

"This isn't true, you saved me."

She was approaching to me, the same movement when you try to kiss someone, but I heard a noise coming from the elevator, Eclipse mercenaries had found us. We took cover behind the equipment. I was shooting with my rifle and Faesa with her pistol. The more mercenaries we killed, more were coming from the elevator. We had only one chance of surviving:

"Matt, we need your help." He answered quickly.

"Just tell me what to do."

"Shoot the windows of the lab, we are surrounded." I was already seeing the ship's cannons.

"Get down now!"

Matt was shooting everything. Luckly I still had my breather on and Faesa had her suit. When the shooting finally stopped I ran to the broken window, the door of the ship was already opened and Matt was close, so I and Faesa jumped off Omega. In the first floor there were still some mercenaries left and more lab equipment. I said to Matt:

"Destroy this place."

The research of Asirn Caess was destroyed, but everyone he experimented on was dead, at least we stopped him from killing more. Faesa later told me that he was probably going to sell the biological weapon for money. If we weren't for her mistake trying to steal his research, the body count could be astronomical.

We were back on the Citadel and I got the chance to talk with Faesa. She really wanted to kiss me. So, we began to do missions together. The more I talked to her, more I could understand her. She told about the life in the flotilla, when she was a child. She even told me about the Pilgrimage and how she was looking for a way to help her people.

I trusted her and she trusted me. The ultimate act of her trust was when she took off her suit, risking her health to be with me. We stayed together for five years, I even stole a Carrier for her Pilgrimage. That is why she returned to her fleet.

So, this is how I killed a krogan and saved a quarian in the process, if you believe it is up to you kid.


	11. Mission: Infiltrate the research center

**Mission: Infiltrate the research center on Noveria**

We were already on Horse Head Nebula. TheUTT-28 shuttle, a small trooper carrier for around forty people, based on the UT-47 Kodiak, but having three times the size and weight of the Kodiak. Because of that, they had to create a bigger drive core, resulting in less intern space for persons, but higher speed in FTL flight. Originally designed to carry cargo, like ammunition to the battlefield, so they developed a metal compost capable of withstand heavy weaponry, including fighters, it also have a Shields that helps resist damage. Because of it's strong defenses it was a good choice for carrying soldiers in open warfare, but the cost to buy one of those was too high, so the primary choice for soldier transport in the Alliance was, and still is the light Kodiak. Mine had the number T-21. And came after I completed my N7 training, I bought when it was decomissoned in 2162, but it is not all original today, I made some major moddifications over the years.

We reached Pax System. Getting closer to Noveria, but we still had to descend. The location where the ship was going to stay was in halfway of the Skadi Mountains, I didn't know how above the ground level, but on foot, the fall was deadly. Thanks to the specifications on the facility, provided by the infiltrated agent, I had a good entering point on the center. The whole plan had a lot of difficulties. First: even with the cloaking on the ship, at low heights the radar will have a clear signal. Second: the way to enter the facility was through a fissure in the ice, where hot water was released, used to cool hot metal, the problem was: the water was going to be solid or, if recently dropped, liquid? Third: we still had a long way to go up, before actually reaching the station. And the final and most troublesome, we had to find a way out after meeting the agent, my first choice was the same way in, if we manage to stay hidden the whole mission. I planned every move, if everything goes well, the plan will work. I was piloting the ship when Matt say:

"Do you contacted the inside source?" In fact, I tried.

"No answer, but answering was going to be dangerous." Going in the dark was bad, but I had no choice.

"We even know his name, or how he looks like?"

"She have a codename, Ghost, but Fist's OSD don't gave an apperance." The Shadow Broker was careful with his contacts.

"So it's a woman. How we contact her?" That was in the OSD.

"In a locker in the laboratory. We input the password, all the top classified research will be there." At least in theory it will be.

"Just that, we will go only for a dossier?"

"Of course not, we will search the laboratory looking for weak spots in the computer's security. And we will look for physical research."

"What do you mean?" That was one more difficulty of the plan.

"We will go to the hangar and the armory. "

"What are you expecting to find?" Now Matt had my full attention.

"That thing we found on a way to kill it."

"Wait a moment. In the case we find something important, we will take it? If so how?" Now Matt understood my point.

"Yes, that we will have to figure out there, don't we?"


	12. Infiltration Method: In Through the Out

**Infiltration Method: In Through the Out Door**

This time, the cold had a Level One hazard alert. So we were using all pieces of the armor, helmet included. But the snow was going to provide good cover for approaching the center, also, no one was going to know we are invading, not with all the fog and wind. I was prepared for resistance, especially inside.

We reached the location where the water was disposed. Until now everything was going accord to the plan, but the next part was tricky. Matias knew every move, he didn't even said a word. I was carrying the flamethrower. The M-451 Firestorm, a heavy weapon used mostly against armored enemies. I had to melt the ice, what was inside was still a mystery, but I was expecting an interest challenge.

After some minutes I could see that the ice melted, showing what appears to be an cave. Just lime I thought, the hot water in contact with the ice created a lake inside the mountain. The pipe we will use for reaching the base was inside, below water. To go up, first we need to go down.

"So, it is like you said. We really needed the helmets." Matt always didn't like to use helmets.

"We could not stand the cold without it, but if you want to turn in a popsicle, just take it off."

"Yes, and who will save your ass when all the shooting starts?" Always made fun of my aim.

"When recover your biotic's amp you be good as me fighting that giant monster we found." He had great biotic powers when we were young.

"Good point. Can't argue with that." He still had his bomb expertise, but was limited.

The only way to go was swimming through the lake. The water was cold. Not too cold like outside, most probably they dispersed hot water recently. We were now inside the cave with water in our neck. I gave the signal to go down, the water was getting colder. The more we were getting closer to the pipe, more cold the water. This was strange, but I didn't had time to think why, we had to find the pipe, and I could see a spot where the water was flooding.

I found why the water was cold below. They were throwing cold water in the lake. Something was very wrong, normally they used water to cool hot plates of metal and ceramic. The water couldn't possibly be of that process. It was like they are defrosting something. I could think in a few things they were doing, but the most obviously was some type of experience. And a experience with organic tissues, which just got out of the fridge.

Matias was pointing his finger to the top. Again I signal in a direction. My plan was going perfectly. The pipe was made from metallic material. If it have iron, then the way up was going to be easy. I acquired a way to go up, it wasn't cheap, but the money was well invested. It was a tool used to climb magnetic metal walls. Basically it convert electric impulses into magnetic energy, directed to the hands and legs of the user, attaching metal armor to any form f iron based metal. But if it just did that, the amount of strength needed to go up was going to be immense. The solution: it also had a tool that create a small mass effect field, effectively reducing the weight of the user, making the climb a lot easier.

In Matt's words: the climb will be a piece of cake. And he was right. We passed the flooding water quickly. We had climbed at least one Thousand meters, when the pipe began to get bigger. We passed some bifurcations, but all pipes come from the same place, the final process of the production line. That was our way in, through the waters of the construction process. The magnetic tool was needed anymore, we reached a flat area of the pipes. There were water high as our knees.

"We are close. We will go separate ways when we reach the factory floor." Matt knew the plan, but was good to pay attention to the details.

"Yes, I go cloaked. In the Laboratory I will find the dossier." He had the cloaking device.

"Right. You go first, room seven, third locker form the left, password "Indicium"." It was Latin for information, not a literal translation.

"Ironic password. After that I wait for you inside the room."

"I will be in the hangar, searching for anything not "usual"." Most likely a weapon.

"Look, there is a way up."

Above our heads a grate was showing a dark open space. We used the Magnetic Climbers to go up. We got inside the research center, after around one hour. There were no signs of life. It was quiet, soundless and badly illuminated. Perfect conditions for a infiltration. Matias just wave his head to the direction of the labs, then he was invisible.

I began my way to the hangar, Mattock in hands. When I was close to the exit I heard footsteps closing by from the corridor. I hid behind a crate full of metal parts. The Production Center was full of pieces like this, each production cell had at least one part being constructed. The strangest thing, nobody was working. It was like a ghost house, almost like if they were all in one place. To me this was true, they was doing something, and they didn't want everyone talking too much about it.

The footsteps got closer, now the voices were getting clearer. When they reached the production cells I could hear them well. The voice of one of them was different, like he had something in his throat. The other had an accent, I didn't know from where.

"You saw what they did with the prototype?" Said the man with the accent.

"Yes, what were they thinking?" I had to find out what they were talking about.

"They put it in that fighter, a weapon that size would fit perfect in a frigate."

"I know. It doesn't make sense. The cannon it's longer then the fighter. Just imagine pilot that thing." It was a cannon, a big one.

"Almost impossible, the maneuvering will be terrible, and the aim, I will not even say all I think about the aim... " The voices began to go away.

Now I knew what to look for. A fighter with a cannon, massive in size. If get right the tone they were using it also had a lot of firepower. And it was a prototype, so it could be a very Strong weapon.

I was going the opposite way the two persons passed. Not long before I began to walk I saw an exit. I didn't even had to search for the mysterious weapon. Right in front of the exit there were at least ten fighters, one after the other. The first four was like any fighter we see in the Alliance. The fifth had a giant canon attached above it.

Now I understand why they were concerned, that prototype could easily perforate a Frigate armor. It was like nothing I ever saw before. If I had never see the galaxy before I would say that only aliens would built a thing like that.


	13. Following the Plan: Improvising just a l

**Following the Plan: Improvising just a little**

The path to the Laboratory was through corridors. I passed the Crew Quarters, the Messing Hall and the Security Offices. I was in the Office Supplies Storage. I met other people going through the labs, they don't know nothing about the water going down the pipes. Even better, they had no idea someone was inside their own working place. This made me question who was the agent and why she was betraying this company. Which I didn't know any name.

In fact, I had no idea what company I was really infiltrating. The dossier will contain the information I need. Meaning: my next step in the mission is finding Matias. He had to be in the room where the locker is, so he already knew who, or what, was behind this cover operation. I established a secure communication link with Matt:

"Matt, any new information on this place?" There were no answer for a short time.

"Samuel, you won't believe what I found in the dossier." He was preoccupied.

"Tell me, all details included!"

"This isn't a private company! The Alliance it's doing research on new weapons, mostly." This really surprised me, now I understood his preoccupation.

"But why? They will use it for what?"

"To gain superiority against other species. There are projects researching the Geth, their technology. Even their AI." AI research was forbidden by the Council, only some chosen groups could do it.

"It is like they are preparing for something." An event, big enough to scare the Alliance.

"And not just that, they are moving something from the laboratory. It was frozen, that is why we saw cold water." Wasn't an experience, but it was bad News for us.

"They are trying to remove any proof of its existence. This only mean one thing..."

"I know, we have to be fast." He didn't even let me finish.

We must get out fast. And not alone, Ghost had to come with us. If they were destroying data and moving physical evidence from the station, they surely know someone is giving away secret information. The only thing undetermined was if they knew who Ghost was. If they did, we could access the information, if not we had to discover her identity ourselves.

I wasn't going to the laboratory anymore. Instead I was going to the Security Offices. I was close when I contacted Matt, so in no time I reached the room with little cubicles. I was looking for the manager office, the one where we could find access to the cameras.

It wasn't difficult to find the room. Either getting access to the live feed cameras. Truth was, Matias gave me a copy of all codes and passwords of the place. I began my search on the laboratory, the screen was big enough to support eight different cameras in the screen. So I searched room by room for abnormal patterns.

I noticed something strange in room nine. It was a small cryogenic room. All cryogenic chambers had a number in the middle of the glass door. Probably it is the date when the door will open. But one didn't have a fixed number, instead it was alternating between zero and one. Suddenly I realized, that was a code.

A binary code. It took me a while to distinguish letters in the code. It was a loop, repeating four letters: "L", "E", "P" and "H". An anagram, I called Matt the moment I see the danger someone was in.

"Matt, go to room nine now, Ghost is there." This time he answered almost instantly.

"I am in the corridor, going now." It took two minutes, but I was hearing Matt opening the door.

"Where is she?"

"In the chamber where the numbers are changing." I could see him in the screen of the terminal I was using.

"Opening it now."

From the video, I saw Matt opening the chamber. He hesitated, what was inside shocked him. He got closer to the chamber and put away his weapon. He grabbed something inside the chamber and was carrying it. Was a person. A woman in some type of all purpose suit. If she was using normal clothes she would be dead by now. But I knew she was alive, I could see Matias begging with his eyes for answers, he was looking directly to the camera.

"Matt, you have to wake her. Someone tried to kill Ghost. But why the encoded message?"

"She won't wake up now, her body is in some kind of stasis, it will take time to recover."

"Sorry Matias, you will have to carry her." I was going to say more but he said first.

"To where? And how will I protect her?" It was dangerous and he knew it.

"I will serve as bait. You two go to the ship and get off planet."

"And how will you escape?" Improvising was necessary now.

"I will hijack the fighter with the prototype cannon. I will draw all the attention to me while you take her to the ship. You just have to pilot the furthest away you can get."

"No way! You will get hit by the anti-air weaponry. Not just that, they will follow you with all that fighters."

"It is a risk we have to take. Now go we can't lose more time."

I saw Matt carrying Ghost outside the room. He had to escape. I was thinking what to do to protect myself from the anti-air weapons when I got a message in my comms. It was a woman voice, but with static. I knew that voice, it was a quarian. Faesa.


	14. When we turn the table on: Can you hear

**When we turn the table on: Can you hear me now?**

The static was terrible. But I didn't had time to clean it up. The only thing I could do in the Security Offices was disable the cameras, the mechs and summon all the soldiers in the messing hall. Matt's way off was going to be hard, but he is clever, he always find a solution when put in pressure. So, that leave my way out in the open. If the soldiers figure out I stole the prototype cannon, and this was going to happen one way or the other, they will chase me in the fighters. What really was bugging me is the anti-air batteries.

I was in the hangar. I could see all the ten fighters. The hangar was housing more than a thousand. For an Alliance Base, this one had a lot more protection than the common ones. They really want to maintain the research on the Geth, the production of weaponry and what I could only deduce, development of a illegal AI, in secret.

The fighter with the cannon was easy to crack open. These fighters were good in air, but in the ground anyone with basic knowledge in electronics could hijack it. And I wasn't a beginner in electronics, so I was turning the fighter on when soldiers began to flood the hangar. They were going to the Security, but some of them stayed behind. Was when I saw the door hangar door opening that I knew they wasn't after me.

Matias was in trouble, at least he was flying already. Because the remaining soldiers were entering the fighters now. I was preparing to shoot the cannon when something unexpected happened. The fighters going outside the doors were getting destroyed. Faesa was out orbit protecting Matias. This was good for his escape, but bad for mine. If I don't find a way to tell her I am in one of their fighters she was going to kill me. So I tried the comm link, surprisingly the static was gone. With the hangar doors opened there were no barrier disrupting the signal.

"Captain of the quarian Carrier, my name is Samuel Fletcher. I am inside one of the fighters of the enemy. You will see that mine fighter has a giant cannon mounted above it. Stop shooting close to the hangar doors." Faesa was there, she answer me.

"Sam! You're alive, keelah se'lai. What you need me to do?"

"Destroy the anti-aircraft batteries. Any fighter I see flying and this cannon will destroy it."

"Like the old times when we were younger." Just like her, saying something like this.

"We still have much years to live for. And who said we are old?"

She was laughing. The last time we spoke was in the beginning of 2181, in February. This whole mess only started way after this, so someone told her what was going on, also told I was in danger.

I was outside now, the fighter balance and maneuvering was horrible. The weight of the cannon was slowing me down, and I was not alone. At least four other fighters was right behind me, shooting. Luckily, they made modifications in the armor, so it could withstand more damage. I did something worth of movies, I reversed the mass effect field, staying behind while all the other fighters passed me.

Now I had the advantage. I saw the panel that controls the cannon. Don't even think twice. It took time to charge, it was a rail gun, using electricity to power magnets through the rail. That why it was long, more energy released, more the destruction. The projectile I was using was a normal steel slug, but basically anything magnetic could be launched. For these fighters I only needed the blank slug.

So, after charged I took the shot. The kick of the cannon was enormous, a ship so small wasn't fit for something this size. The fighter I hit was in pieces, and it didn't exploded, the slug pass through it like it was made from paper. Not just that, the trajectory of the slug was measured in the panel. It went more farther than the range of the equipment, and it was still in high velocity. This weapon was a true piece of war, made to destroy something with thick armor.

Even with low speed, destroying the other three fighters was going to be easy. One shot with the cannon was like shooting a pistol at close range, no time to react. The first two was down in no time. The third was a smart one, he was using mass effect fields to enter FTL. But he was too slow to do it before my shot pierce it, destroying the ones who was after me first.

I was almost out of orbit when I saw the Carrier. It was the one we stole together, a long time ago. My sensors began to pick a signal below me. This time it was not fighters, but two frigates. It was too late to catch me, but they were going to Faesa's ship. They should not.

Faesa didn't even fired a warning shot. One of the frigates had now a hole in the hull. It was not down yet, but if she had shot the core drives the crew was history now. Faesa always had a mixed humor, she is lovely as a woman can be, but if you are trying to hurt someone close she will turn in a angry killer. When this happen, get out, she becomes more dangerous than even me. In fact, I was more like a tactical person, I like planning ahead, moving cautiously, killing only when necessary, I am a infiltrator. If we don't have a plan, Faesa goes guns blazing, she does have combat discipline, but infiltration is not her style.

Faesa shot again, in the same ship. Another hole opened. It was clear that they couldn't stand a Carrier firepower, so they drop the pursuit. Faesa did save me this time. And I was going to thank her.


	15. Infiltrate the research center, Debriefi

**Mission: Infiltrate the research center on Noveria: Debriefing**

So, the mission was worth our trouble. We acquired the dossier, even the Shadow Broker Agent, Ghost. We learned that the Alliance is preparing for something, we don't know what, yet. With Faesa's help we escaped, the prototype cannon was going to be a great asset against that synthetic creature we found on Shanxi. In fact, I think that they were moving a form of life equal to the one we fought. The only explanation for them leaving behind the Geth was that they had something more valuable.

I knew the danger of this speculation. The Alliance studying the Geth, and something unknown. But it was the truth. The dossier had all data on their research, except the thing they were moving out the center. They are afraid, afraid enough for desperate measures, and I need to know why.

I had to talk to Faesa, and I was going to her cabin. I had to know her how she knew my location and why she helped me. I needed answers. We never lost contact with each other, we communicated every now and then, but only messages. After five years together, we both knew we loved each other. Not only love, we were so close that we didn't even had to tell our feelings, or ours actions, we know what we will do before it happens. We share a deep connection, a rare one. One that a few persons on the galaxy have, and I mean all the races, planets and individuals. We are more than soul mates, I have a living part of Faesa on my heart and soul, and she has a part of me.


	16. Faesa's Carrier, the Anqmaar: Meeting th

**Faesa's Carrier, the Anqmaar: Meeting the Captain**

I was inside the Anqmaar, a lot of years back I was stealing it. Now I was a guest, and one with a great debt with the Captain. Faesa was waiting for me, but she knew I would not show myself in her cabin in full armor. So, I took my best clothes in my ship, dropped my armor there and got clean. Matias was occupied with Ghost in the Medical Bay, so I went to the central elevator, the one that link the Captain's Cabin with all ship.

It required a password to use it, and Faesa didn't change it. It was, and still is the day we firstly met, when I killed a Krogan for her. I got in the top fast. I was standing in front of the door when it opened. The cabin of a Carrier is huge, a little bigger than the inside of my UTT. I got inside and I saw Faesa, but I could see her hair, she wasn't in the suit. She turned, and it was like the first time I saw her face, my feelings filling my heart, she was still the most beautiful woman I knew.

Like I said, we can predict each other, she smiled and said:

"Why you still turn red when you see me" Her voice like a melody.

"You know that when I see your face I can't control myself, it is like I am strong, but the same time weak, afraid of never getting to see you again." She smiled again, I always loved it.

"And you, with your words, always know what to say." I got closer, and she too. I was with her in my arms.

"Sorry, this mission got out of control." She was holding me, but looked in my eyes.

"You always find a way to survive, I'm glad I could at least help you."

"You always helped me. It was after I met you that I truly began to live, my best years was the ones we spent together." This time she kissed me, how I missed these kisses.

"I say the same."

"I have to ask, why aren't you suited?"

"Remember Asirn? His auto-immune disease really boosts the defense system, before it attacks the other organs. Thanks to our scientists we developed a way to stop the attack, but the improvement in the immune system is only temporary. It lasts two days." This was way more than the antibiotics quarians normally use.

"So, all those sacrifices weren't for nothing, you found something good in that monstrosity."

"Samuel, you know, sometimes it is too late to save a life. You did the right thing, they had freedom before the end." She too knew what to say, in the right time.

"Yes, but Asirn deserved much more pain than a shot in the head." I was furious, but Faesa hugged me one more time.

"Forget it, let's not waste our time remembering our regrets."

"Thank you, for saving my life this time."

She looked at my eyes again, words were not necessary anymore. We were in unison again, our feelings were one and our thoughts were one. It was like all other things in the universe were nothing. All I needed was her, nothing else mattered.

We walked to the bedroom. It was my first time there. Our last words were on the Bridge, she said: "I have to go, stay in the fleet, and look out for my people. I know you wanted to live the rest of your life with me, you can, but I have to do this first. And I promise you, we will live our lives together, you just have to wait". After that we went separate ways. So I sat in the bed, and asked her:

"I waited, is this the day we begin the rest of our lives together?"

"Yes, it is."

I knew she was the one I wanted to live with all my years. And she had the same feelings. We did more in five years than most can do in a lifetime. When we parted ways I felt a void, one that only she could fill. Now we are together again, I am full one more time.

I feel her skin in my hands, her lips with mine. We waited years, but we found each another again. She laid down, her lips with mine. We both never wanted other person, just each another one more time. I took her hand, her lips with mine. We are together again, one more time. I look her in the eyes, no more fear, no more anger, all I feel is, no, words can't describe how I feel. But there we are, one more time I feel her lips with mine...


	17. Faesa's Carrier, the Anqmaar: Visiting t

**Faesa's Carrier, the Anqmaar: Visiting the Med Bay**

The effect of Faesa's immune-booster passed, so when I awoke in the third night she was in her suit. She sat in the bed:

"I have to wait before using the IB again."

"Yes, and I can wait, for you." I knew she smiled, even if I couldn't see t.

"Get dressed, we have to see the informant, she is still in coma." We had to do that, but I also had to know one thing.

"One question: how you know where to find me?"

"A friend of you told me. He also said he found the contractor." Makarov, he was the one who contacted Faesa.

I got ready to go, Faesa was at the door. The elevator got us to the Medical Bay. We passed rooms full of research equipment, and quarians working. Faesa had a whole crew, the Anqmaar was now a live ship, active part of the Migrant Fleet. After walking a while we reached the room where Ghost was, from the glass I could see Matt, in his armor, sleeping in a chair. He passed two days there, he only took his helmet off. He was really worried about her. I entered the room, and he awoke, saying:

"Now I know what you felt, why you risked your life for Faesa." He looked very tired.

"It is like you can't control your actions, you act by instinct." This is what happened to me, that time.

"And now even Faesa know it too, she also saved you." Without her help, I could be dead.

"It is like Samuel said, you don't think, only act by instinct."

"Yes, now, what we can do to save her again?" Matt was really preoccupied with her safety.

"The doctors will know what to do Matt, you can go take off you armor, rest a little." And I was preoccupied with Matt, he was a good friend.

"You will look after her, right?"

"She is safe, you can trust us." Faesa answered, calming him.

He waved his head, agreeing. He got up, but walking would be difficult alone, tired as he was. I put his arm in my shoulder and helped him walk. I was in the corridor, Faesa was following us. This made me remember the days when we three were together. And, there I was, back in the Anqmaar for the first time, going to steal it for Faesa's Pilgrimage.


	18. Memories: A big trouble, a Carrier kind

**Memories: A big trouble, a Carrier kind of trouble, 2171**

I was in Omega, this time peacefully. I saw Faesa looking some messages in the computer. She was waiting for a confirmation. If the rumor of the ship Anqmaar turns out to be true, we were going after it. I wanted more time with her, but I knew, if we acquire it, she would return to the Fleet. She looked at me, saying:

"Samuel, I got the message." She didn't have to say nothing more.

"We are going then."

Inside the UTT, Faesa showed the blue prints of the Anqmaar. It was enormous and it was going to be filled with Geth. We had a plan, not an easy one, but we were still discussing the details.

"Okay, we go inside that way, if they don't start the engines. It is too risky." This time Matt had a point.

"Faesa, there has to be another way." I was worried too.

"The only problem is, there is no other way. If we try to blow our way in the Geth will know we are there. This time, your way is the right way, infiltrate is the best option." Matt once again protested.

"But you have to agree with me, if the ship turns on, we will be ashes in an instant. We have to find other way in." Matias had a point once again, but we had no choice.

"She is right, infiltrate is the best option. Once inside we avoid all contact, then the safety EMP will disable all Geth." Faesa knew more than me on the Geth, she knew what to do once inside.

"It's likely the Geth will be in front of the hubs, waiting for something to wake them. If we go carefully, we can avoid unnecessary fights, or else we have to fight in every room and destroy every hub. One of us has to reach the Data Core, configure new passwords for the central elevator. One goes through the elevator to the Captain's Cabin, there the EMP will be waiting for activation. The other has to fix the Drive Core, to escape the Perseus Veil, after the EMP, so the fixing has to be fast. We can do it". The plan, in few words.

"So, I guess everyone know what to do." This was going to be hard.

We reached the Perseus Veil. The Anqmaar was in the asteroid belt. This would provide cover for our approach, but also was going to make the escape problematic. One other part of the plan Faesa did not mention was how to recover my ship. The only one with time to do it was Matt. But he had to be fast, going to one end to another of a big Carrier. I had to trust that Matt could do it.

I was piloting to the entry point, no signs of Geth activities. I and Matt suited in our Alliance armors. When the door opened we saw the thrusters. No other way, we jumped. There was no turning back now.

We were luck to fit in the ducts, even if it is the ducts of a Carrier. We reached the entry point, a maintenance opening, where one unfortunate worker would also enter the ducts. In the other side there were only more ducts and cables, and different paths. We got separated, everyone going your way.

I walked the narrow path for some time. If the map was right, I was below the Engines. Matias and Faesa had a longer way to go. I opened the hatch, it was dark, but I was seeing a green light on the floor. These would wake the Geth if I touched it, so I had to be very careful.

The Drive Core was close, but I had to activate it after the detonation of the EMP. So I had to wait. Everything was good, but after several minutes, the lights on the floor turned red. I could listen to the sound of Geth, and the in the comm was Faesa yelling.

"I was wrong, there is a Geth Server inside here, the whole ship awakened!" This was bad.

"Matt, you changed the password?"

"Yes, I changed the numbers, Faesa can use the elevator." Now he had to escape.

"Cloak up, don't fight anything. We meet you in the Relay."

"I will be waiting." He sounded sure we would make it.

"Faesa, are you in the elevator?" I was hearing gunshots.

"I'm on my way, there is too many Geths." I heard more gunshots, this time they were aiming for me.

I had to defend my position. The Shiny was good for that. I had to be careful, in no time I was going to be out of ammo. The more Geth I killed more showed up. I had to rely on my tech powers to destroy many Geths with a single hit. I was getting cornered, so I was on the move all time.

Faesa was taking too long to activate the EMP. And I was just shooting down Geth after Geth. In short time I was out of thermal clips. So I began shooting with my M-9 Tempest. With less stopping power, I had to shoot more times to destroy a Geth.

Once again, out of thermal clips. And the Geth were getting fearless, going out of cover trying to kill me. I still had my Predator. I had to economize, so I was aiming very carefully. It was working for some time, before I got out of clips again. Cryo was slowing down them, but they were coming and coming.

I was sure I was finished, when I heard a blast sound.


	19. Memories: Out of the Veil, our Goodbyes

**Memories: Out of the Veil, our Goodbyes**

Faesa did it, just in time. Now the Geth in the Veil will be alerted. I got to the Drive Core and began manual activation. The Core was massive, and I did everything I had to. It was turning on again, we still had a chance. Then I called Faesa:

"Are you close to the Bridge?" I could hear her heavy breathing, she was running.

"Yes, going in now. You'd better hold on in something."

I followed her advice. But even doing it I still got flying off when the ship moved. The barriers were holding against the asteroids, but every impact and the ship trembled. We got out of the belt quick, but once again the ship trembled. This time Faesa called me:

"The Geth are shooting at us!" The asteroid belt really provided good cover.

"Just enter FTL. Go to the Relay, they will not follow us if we use it." They won't leave the Veil.

She did as I said. After we used the Relay we were safe. The Geth would not pursue us beyond the Veil. Now we were on our way to Raheel Leyya, in the Vallhallan Threshold, where the Migrant Fleet was.

Matias boarded the Anqmaar in the Ship Bay. We were all in the Bridge. The ship was closing in the Fleet. Matt was the first to celebrate.

"We did it, I can't believe it but we really did it!" It was a surprise for all of us.

"I told you we could do it, didn't I?" She was like Matt, still processing the fact only three persons stole a Carrier.

"And you were right. How right."

They were talking every detail of the mission. They didn't even noticed when I left to the pilot seat. How different it was from my little ship. I could pilot it for a few moments before we were close to the Flotilla. The talking stopped, Faesa was at my side. I said:

"I can't go further, they wouldn't accept us, or how we helped you." She knew I was right.

"They will never know what you did."

"It's your Pilgrimage, I did it for you, don't worry about me." I knew that was the last time I was going to see her in a long time.

"Sorry Samuel. I have to go, stay in the fleet, and look out for my people. I know you wanted to live the rest of your life with me, you can, but I have to do this first. And I promise you, we will live our lives together, you just have to wait."

"And I will wait. I will see you again, I promise too…"

I went to the Ship Bay with Matt, got out with my ship. Only after ten years I saw her again, but this time we were going to be together, like we promised…


	20. Present Days: Awaking a Ghost

**Present Days: Awaking a Ghost**

After one more day, we were finally going to awake Ghost. Faesa gave the signal to the quarian doctor. He injected a countermeasure against what was leaving Ghost in coma. It worked fast, she awaked, and asked:

"Where am I?" Faesa was going to answer, but Matt was faster.

"You are in the Anqmaar, we took you off the Alliance research center."

"But why?" She looked surprised we saved her, but she knew more than the dossier had, so I said:

"Your dossier didn't had information on everything they were researching. They were moving something out of the base, what was it? And tell me why they did it."

"That is why you saved me. Well, the Alliance found other things in the Prothean ruins. Something older, remains of a winged species, long dead. But something in them wasn't natural, they were modified, to be weapons, bended to the master's will. They were worthless to the Alliance, but not for another organization. Cerberus would pay anything for a living specimen" The synthetic we found on Shanxi, older then the Protheans, but who created it.

"And now they know there is one alive. They will do anything to acquire it." This information surprised Ghost.

"One alive, how?" I was almost answering it, but Faesa said:

"Let Matt tell the story, come with me." I followed Faesa outside.

"Sam, in your friend's message he said to find him in the Citadel, there he would give more information. But he did said the name of the contractor, Simon."

"So, he is alive, and working for Cerberus. After all those years, my father found me."


End file.
